Calling Artillery

Ok i have been playing for 2 days now and how do you point out targets on the mini map so artillery can hit it is there a button or what im a team player but evry battle i get in no one will assist me in this

Do NOT click the map to call artillery. What happens is that when a tank detects an enemy, it automatically appears on the minimap, at least to anyone within radio range. Artillery will see that red diamond/square/triangle/etc if they are within range (And if they aren't in range, most Artillery will refuse to fire blind, as wasted shots can cost upwards of 1k credits.) Clicking the map only calls people's attention to it, when they can already see those enemy units. The clicking-the-map thing gets annoying fast, since it really is just redundant . Artillery will hopefully master the art of keeping one eye on the minimap while they play.

Try to only click the map if you're also typing in "I'm going here" when you're scouting, to let Artillery know, or if you're artillery and would like someone to scout a location.

I have found it's just a hair more than impossible to get any arty players to fire shells at random locations. The next time you have the exact location of a tank that's gone off radar or is out of their radio range, try taking a screen cap of the location, solicit the arty players for their emails and send them the cap. Most probably wouldn't mind pausing their DVR to check out the cap and give you support.

Pinging the map is a huge help specially if the place being pinged has a high tier enemy, please also be sure to tell arty what type of tank it is so arty can prioritize whatever HIGH VALUE target you have.

I have found it's just a hair more than impossible to get any arty players to fire shells at random locations.

Shells for my M41 cost 1100 credits each, and I only have 18 of them to fire. If you have a specific target spotted and lit upI'll be more than happy to send some rounds that way. If you're pinging what seems to be an empty area, don't expect blind fire into the area. It costs too much.

ALSO, If the team hasn't bothered to knock out the enemy scouts and left a flank wide open for them to drive through, it's a sure bet that I'll be preoccupied with defending myself rather than helping you.

heavy (slow, takes a ton of damage to kill)
TD (slow, squishy)
medium (kinda fast, squishy)
arty (generally most everything is dead by the time these get seen. then my teammates are one-shotting it)
light (cant hit the thing anyway.)

if i see someone sitting there and vanish, i MAY take a shot. more often they vanish right as i fire.
why do blind shots(see above) hit more than shots you can see the tank?
on one map i blind fired at a known camping spot as soon as i had loaded, killed an enemy arty who was moving up...

if im focused on defending left side, im unable to help you on the right side.

I have found it's just a hair more than impossible to get any arty players to fire shells at random locations. The next time you have the exact location of a tank that's gone off radar or is out of their radio range, try taking a screen cap of the location, solicit the arty players for their emails and send them the cap. Most probably wouldn't mind pausing their DVR to check out the cap and give you support.

You can try pinging the map, but as an arty player myself I can pretty much tell you that I will shoot it without you pinging if I think it's a good idea.

Here are several things to consider as an arty player and for non-arty players to know so they know what to expect.

First, we have a very long reload time, so without tracers currently very few of us will fire blindly because we're likely to miss and the targets that get lit up during our reload will go undamaged.

Second, we have a very long aim time, so unless a target is lit up for a significant amount of time (except for when we already are watchiing that lane) it may take more than 6 seconds before we fire, and another 2-4 seconds of shell travel, then it's maybe 12-30 seconds before we can fire again so if you all of a sudden get detect a huge mob, you have to do your best to stay alive for at least a minute before we can do anything substantial.

Finally, we have very narrow traverse which coupled with slow aim time means that if we turn our vehicles all over the place to try and shoot everything that popped up we won't hit a thing all game. Most of us by now have learned to keep an eye on hot spots and on some maps that will require us to commit to only one flank. Relocating from one side to another is a very slow process and exposes us to detection so most of us try to avoid it if at all possible. Idealy we'd split duties so the whole map is more or less covered, but even then don't expect everyone to instantly start firing on the target you need because it's impossible to do so. Because of the same reason I personally think it's more efficient to sometimes wait to hit a target i'm zeroed in on than to aim at something else half way across the map. This is especially true for targets that have a tendency to pop in and out of sight randomly, Given the choice between waiting 2-3 seconds for a patton to come out of cover and nail him and traversing my gun all the way to hit that Maus that might disappear when I aim at it, I would go for the Patton, though that Maus will probably be my target once I let me current round go.

Hopefully this helps you get an idea of the limitations of artillery, bottom line is that we do help, but sometimes helping you out might come at a detriment to the overall game and in that case, I'm sorry, your stalling efforts are much appreciated.

And buildings just plain suck, for me anyway, trying to get a clear shot on a lane but still have some cover can be tough, usually I don't last long on any city maps because any support is long gone. Don't ask for support in between buildings, my shots don't go straight up and straight down onto the target. But yea if I can't see it I am not going to take the shot, usually I will watch a flank and try to soften up any medium or heavy tanks so that "hopefully" the lights and mediums can come through with less trouble, if I am lucky I get a kill in, or two (actually got 3 last night quite happy with that), and I rarely take a shot on a light tank unless he is camping. Of course I drive an M37 so half the time my shots aren't where I want them to be, or they never show up on target. But I have had success in dropping a shot behind a tank on cover that I don't have a clear shot on to flush him out so another tank on my team can get a better shot and take him out. All that being said I still have A LOT to learn, still got to learn the maps better, and learn where the heck my shots are going in relation to my tank, if I am at a slight tilt to the right or left do my shots drift because of that? Do we have to deal with windage?

As a NOOB to Intermediate arty (Tier 4 SPG and 200+ battles so far), I try to keep my sights ahead of advancing tanks so anything they spot I can quickly sight in on to give support. I find on some maps they'll be 10 tanks on one half and 3 on another, so I go to the side with 3 to help them out if they get overwhelmed. No need to mark on the mini-map for arty, a good arty is there for support especially for the ones scouting in the front, as long as they aren't extremely fast. Arty (at tier 4 anyway) has a hard time with FAST light tanks, very hard to hit or keep up with. After being arty for a while, I think being a veteran FAST light tank must be one of the best team members to become, they spot and can blast on the run enemy SPG's and TD's. But you've got to be very good at that or you can get blasted by a good Med tank waiting for you.

When there are no targets on the mini map I am an arty player that DOES let rounds fly into known or suspected arty locations.

I took out 6 diff arty pieces yesterday on blind shots because I guessed where they were hiding.

Also, when we get certain maps like campinova, we have all seen where people try to hide, the corners of buildings, behind the only rock or two on the other side. You can guarantee I'll place rounds in those locations.

Of course depending on which arty piece I am operating and how many shells I have.

One other thing, when will people learn that arty can see you knocking down trees and structures?

I long for macros -- I'm not fast with the chat. I try to only ping the map for what I feel is the greatest menace, like a whole fustercluck of enemy tanks that are overrunning me and one or two mates on their way to our base. By the time I'm done with that, we're dead.